What Your Family Health History Can Teach You
Posted on February 08, 2012
If your grandmother had osteoporosis does that mean you’ll have it too? If your mother had breast cancer are you likely to get it as well? Is genetics destiny?
No, genetics isn’t always destiny and you are not fated to contract a disease or condition simply because a relative did. However, as we learn more about genetics and the importance of preventive care, knowing your family medical history is more important than ever.
A family medical history can tell you which diseases you are at the most risk for and thus allow you to take steps to prevent them or detect them earlier so they can be treated sooner.
How to create a family health history
What is a family health history? Sometimes called a family health history tree, it is a record of illnesses and medical conditions affecting your family members. It should be focused on serious conditions, not seasonal allergies or tonsillitis. A complete history should include three generations and encompass grandparents, parents, siblings, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.
Among the information to include:
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Ethnicity
- Medical conditions and age when each was diagnosed
- Pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, birth defects and infertility
- Lifestyle habits, including diet, exercise and tobacco use
- Mental health conditions, including substance abuse
- Age at time of death and cause of death
This information can provide valuable clues as to what you should be aware of. For example, family health history can be a risk factor for heart disease, some types of cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, stroke and more unusual diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia.
Remember that having a family history of a disease or condition doesn’t mean you’ll get it. Likewise, having no family history of a disease doesn’t mean you won’t get it.
What to do with a family health history
Share this information with your physician and together you can decide how to use family history to improve your health. Knowing that you have a family history of osteoporosis, for example, your doctor might have you undergo a bone density test earlier than someone without that family history. Likewise, a history of colorectal cancer suggests earlier screenings.
A doctor also could recommend lifestyle changes that could lower your risk of contracting diseases, such as losing weight, eating better and getting more exercise.
The information you gather can be shared with other relatives so that they can be armed with this valuable knowledge.
The Surgeon General offers a free tool to help you create your family health history and the American Medical Association provides additional information on the importance of family health history.
- Sobia Khan, M.D.
Sobia Khan, M.D. is a board-certified internist and a Women’s Health Fellow at the Cleveland Clinic.
